Deep Betrayal

They’re only twice as annoying as they seem.”
    “Listen,” I said, doing my best not to sound desperate. “I’m not here to mess with you, or cause anybody any problems. I just need some information.”
    “Then ask your question and get back to the lake,” said Bernard.
    I made my eyes wide and offended. “But I just ordered you a pizza.”
    “You eat pizza?” asked Christian, who was sitting in the middle, his broad shoulders crowding out the other two.
    “Of course. Who doesn’t? But it’s all yours,” I said. “We’ll call it a trade. Pizza for information.”
    This seemed to work for them, and when the pie landed in the middle of the table, six hands lurched forward and gooey strings of mozzarella dripped across the checkered tablecloth.
    “Back at your trailer,” I said. “Was that wind chime, was it a representation of something called … called …”
    Three heads bobbed and chewed. “Maighdean Mara.”
    “So do you … have you, like, seen any evidence of … her activity lately?” I could feel my face burn as I asked the question.
    Christian and Bernard choked as they swallowed.
    “What are you playing at?” Bernard asked, folding his arms over his chest.
    “Just answer the question, please,” I said with a sigh.
    “We haven’t seen her,” Daniel said. “Nobody has. Our dad’s grandfather used to back in the day.”
    Bernard chimed in, “Or at least according to our dad.”
    “There used to be a line of devotees in our family,” Christian said, “but our dad’s the last of that line. Now he says it’s just campfire stories.”
    “So you don’t have any infomation for me?” Why had Pavati sent us looking for these boys? They were useless.
    Daniel wiped his mouth on his sleeve. “Wouldn’t you know more about her than us?”
    I clenched my teeth and tried to figure out how to end this conversation gracefully.
    “Hypothetically,” Bernard said, “if she really exists, they say she lives in Copper Falls and no human gets in without an offering.”
    Christian pulled off another piece of pizza and folded it in half before shoving it in his mouth.
    “You’d have to be an idiot to go looking for her,” Daniel said. “Even for your kind. She might have been a guardian at one point, but she’s turned into a monster. Her eyes bulge, and she has six-feet-long arms, with gnarled claws. She can swipe you out of a boat like that !” He snapped his fingers.
    “What are you talking about?” Christian said, taking another piece before finishing the one he held.
    “I don’t know about that,” Bernard said, “but they did find human skulls around the falls about ten years ago. Even if she’s only a myth, it’s still dangerous to go there.”
    “So where is this Copper Falls?” I asked with a sigh. It looked like it was the only solid lead they were going to give me.
    “On the Minnesota side. Just north of Duluth,” Daniel said. “But it’s not enough to go to the falls. The story is you have to get behind them.”
    “That’s where she hides her magic,” Bernard said. “Behind the curtain of water.” He wiggled his greasy fingers in a mystical way.
    I closed my eyes and took a calming breath. I didn’t think I could suspend my disbelief much longer. I’d gone along with this Maighdean Mara thing—tried to make myself believe that a mythological water spirit was to blame for Connor’s and Brady’s deaths—but this was getting ridiculous.
    I exhaled slowly. “And how do you get behind the falls?” I asked, opening my eyes again.
    “Don’t ask us,” Bernard said.
    Just then the air in the restaurant turned dry and static on my skin. Bernard reached for the metal napkin holder,and a blue spark zapped in the air. The hair on my arms rose to attention, and all three boys’ spines stiffened against the booth. They stared at me, silently asking what they’d done to get me so uptight. Of course, it wasn’t me filling the air with electricity. Calder was standing inside the doorway.
    Yeah. Time to go . I laid a twenty on the table.
    “You’re sure you don’t want any?” Daniel asked. “Stay a little longer.”
    I slid my legs out of the booth. “It’s my treat.”
    “So is she coming back?” he asked.
    “Who?”
    “Your sister,” he said with annoyance. “Pavati.”
    Christian backhanded Daniel’s head.
    “Um. Don’t think so,” I said, looking back and forth between the three brothers and Calder’s urgent expression. “She